From a Slave to the White House
By: Anthony Adewumi
By: Anthony Adewumi
Before five score years,
When the Mississippi flowed with blood and tears-
Blood from the heels of the Negro who worked in the fields
Tears from the Negro mother who saw her child be sold when she first came here-
Here in the land where you take a man, beat him and mistreat him
Make him build the land of liberty but grant him not the chance to live in the freedom
Give him his body but confiscate his mind
They figured since his skin was dark, so should his inside
Then shed a little light on him with the 13th amendment
His flesh his now free but his soul still hangs like a pendant
Drown his dreams with the water hose and scar his heart with the dog bites
Restrict him from the white only seats and beat him for doing no wrong-
When he marched for his rights,
Throw my people in jail for refusing to sit behind and disfigure us till-
We emit sorrow and apathy towards the Lord’s will,
But the Lord is all we had and all we needed to persevere
So all the labor we sowed into this land has finally reaped loud and clear
The spirit that spoke on that August 28th and gave the Dream a voice
Is the same spirit that brought change to America on November 4th,
So today is not just history, today is deliverance,
For my people are no longer excused by ignorance
No more restriction on our dreams or enslavement on our minds,
So please be radiant even when the world shouts “Lights out!”
Because there is no room for darkness in a man who has come from being a slave-
To being the White House
When the Mississippi flowed with blood and tears-
Blood from the heels of the Negro who worked in the fields
Tears from the Negro mother who saw her child be sold when she first came here-
Here in the land where you take a man, beat him and mistreat him
Make him build the land of liberty but grant him not the chance to live in the freedom
Give him his body but confiscate his mind
They figured since his skin was dark, so should his inside
Then shed a little light on him with the 13th amendment
His flesh his now free but his soul still hangs like a pendant
Drown his dreams with the water hose and scar his heart with the dog bites
Restrict him from the white only seats and beat him for doing no wrong-
When he marched for his rights,
Throw my people in jail for refusing to sit behind and disfigure us till-
We emit sorrow and apathy towards the Lord’s will,
But the Lord is all we had and all we needed to persevere
So all the labor we sowed into this land has finally reaped loud and clear
The spirit that spoke on that August 28th and gave the Dream a voice
Is the same spirit that brought change to America on November 4th,
So today is not just history, today is deliverance,
For my people are no longer excused by ignorance
No more restriction on our dreams or enslavement on our minds,
So please be radiant even when the world shouts “Lights out!”
Because there is no room for darkness in a man who has come from being a slave-
To being the White House
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